The EU is proposing a new law on Industrial strategy. Various versions have been leaked ahead of the planned February 25th publication. Whatever its final form, the proposals represent tension between the French desire for protectionism and other EU industrial nations desire for openness.
Architect of the law is Stéphane Séjourné, Executive Vice-President of the European Commission for Prosperity and Industrial Strategy. A Lawyer, he was originally a member of the Socialist Party and supporter of Dominique Strauss-Kahn. Subsequently, an advisor to Emmanuel Macron. He was central to the founding of En Marche and managed Macron's 2017 presidential campaign. On 11 January 2024, Séjourné was appointed minister of Europe and foreign affairs in Gabriel Attal's government. Attal is his ex civil partner. He replaced Thierry Breton in the Von der Leyen Commission in 2024.
Séjourné's proposed 'Industrial Accelerator Act' is based on his desire for closer union and protection. EU member states would be obliged to buy EU made products where they are available. They would also have to 'buy more climate-friendly materials'. He wants businesses in key EU industries or sectors to be bound by rules. EU businesses must contribute to at least 70% of any products or project's supply chain. Foreign investment would be limited to 49% of a company's or project's financing. It would limit investments by companies based in countries that control more than 40 percent of global manufacturing capacity across four sectors: batteries, electric vehicles, solar technologies, and the processing and recycling of critical raw materials.
This 'Fortress EU' plan has met with opposition from Italy and Germany. They want Made in EU to include content originating from the EU and the EEA, (Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein). They propose the inclusion of "trusted partners whose manufacturing should be deemed equivalent to Union origin content". In proposing this they recognise that erecting more non tariff barriers against the USA, Japan, UK, Korea and many others could well damage the EU. The EU is declining as a market. Fast expanding markets elsewhere may well see this as a warning to look to themselves and buy less from the EU.
Doubtless, Starmer will see the threat differently. As confirmation that his rejoining the EU by stealth plan is the right path. The Socialist construct of the EU is attractive to the far left. Those interested in progress see the matter differently. The EU has a long history of broken promises, ignored referenda, and weaselling out of Free Trade Agreements. The Industrial Accelerator Act is a desperate attempt to halt EU decline. Its proposal by a French integrationist reflects the problems of France and its decline. The EU are clutching at straws. We should be building and taking advantage of our new trade agreements. Scrapping Net-Zero and using our abundant resources of oil and gas would transform our situation.
Socialists have a problem in understanding that when you have stuff you need to sell it. They above all have a problem with choice. People are supposed to sit still while the state does things to them. The real world is not like that. Tax too much and those that can, move. The current UK government is certainly the most undemocratic in our history. From cancelled elections to the Jury trial threat one can add the relentless move toward alignment with the EU. Despite Brexit not being properly delivered, since 2016 the UK has outperformed the EU's growth. Starmer's desire to rejoin is ideological, the dream of a United Socialist States of EU. A unitary state ruled by unelected commissars. It is not based on democracy or economics. Certainly not on defence, as NATO has preserved the peace since 1945 and still does.
Sums are not this governments strong point. In an effort to help, here is some simple arithmetic that even Starmer and Reeves should be able to understand. 2025 World population, 8.3 Billion, 2025 EU population 450 million. 7.85 Billion people do not live in the EU. According to the WEF, the world's middle class was estimated at 4.4 billion in 2025, that is projected to rise to 5.7 billion in the next decade. The EU's middle class (Defined as those who have purchasing power) was 28.8 million in 2025. In 2025 the EU represented 0.65% of the World's middle class buyers. World potential is huge. Tying the UK to the EU would be an act not only of intentional self harm, but of economic sabotage.